Running Head: UHC
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10-2 Short Paper: Universal Health Care
HRM 630
SNHU
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Universal health care (UHC) is a basic health care system that gives focus on serving
better quality of health care services to all the citizens worldwide. This system is offered by
the federal government to every individual where it does not matter whether the individual is
capable of paying the medical bills or not. Basically, this universal health care system is
different and unique as compared to the other health care system that usually asks
individuals to pay some portion of the medical cost directly (Amadeo, 2021). good health
care is very necessary for all human beings. And, it is a critical necessity and hot topic in the
United States. This country is known to be the most powerful country amongst all the
countries, which lacks a comprehensive and organized universal health care system. There
are many developing countries that are supporting their health care quality through
introducing universal health care in their country.
Advantages and disadvantages of Universal Health Care
There are many advantages and disadvantages relating to the universal health care
system as compared to that most of the United States citizens are used to. The major
advantages associated with universal health care is lowered administrative costs, lowered
overall health care costs, prevents future social costs, standardizes service, guiding people to
make healthier choices, and creating a healthier workforce (Advantages and disadvantages
of Universal Health Care. Universal Health Care, 2016).
On the contrary, universal health care has some disadvantages such as healthy pay
for the sickest, long wait times for elective procedures, less financial incentive to stay
healthy, medical costs may overwhelm government budgets, the government may limit
health care services with the low success probability, and doctors incentivized to cut the
health care to lower costs (Advantages and disadvantages of Universal Health Care.
Universal Health Care, 2016).
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Different models relating to Universal Health Care
Generally, the universal health care system consists of various models that include the
single-payer model, social health insurance model and national health insurance model.
• Single-payer model:
Here, the single-payer model is also known as the Beveridge Model. In this model, the
government supports free medical services paid for with income taxes revenue. These
services are basically government-owned, and all the government employees are employed
as service providers. The single-payer health care system has been enhanced with the
support of the National Health Service of the United Kingdom, where the government runs
the hospitals, employs doctors and pays for health services. Moreover, the single-payer
health care system has also been offered in the United States to military personnel and
veterans with the armed forces and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Apart from this,
there are other single-payer-based countries present that include Cuba, Spain, and New
Zealand (Amadeo, 2021).
• National Health Insurance model:
The national health insurance model is basically used to pay for private-practice care that
uses public insurance. In this model, the administrative costs are a little lower. This model is
used by the U.S. Medicare, TRICARE, and Medicaid systems. Moreover, this model is used
by various countries like Taiwan, Canada and South Korea (Amadeo, 2021).
• Social Health Insurance Model:
Usually, this model requires every one of the countries to buy the insurance through their
employers. In this model, the tax has been deducted from the employee's payroll. Here, the
health care services are provided by private hospitals and doctors. The health insurance
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prices are controlled by the government. In Germany, this model is also called the Bismarck
model. In the U.S., insurance is also required for the Obamacare or Affordable Care Act,
where many exemptions have been found. Hence, this model is no longer enforced in the
country by penalties. There are other countries like Belgium, France, Japan, the Netherlands,
and Switzerland that are using this model (Amadeo, 2021).
Impact on the triangle of health care delivery: quality, care, and costs
In the United States, the universal health care system has become a hot topic because
of some of the occurring challenges related to the health care system. There is a sizeable
percentage of Americans who have received their medical care from the emergency room
without health insurance prior to the Affordable Care Act 2010. This is considered to
provide health care services in the least cost-effective way. Further, many more Americans
have been added to the insurance rolls that have not been realized yet by the universal health
care system. cost, quality and care of the health care system are inter-related to each other
where it is difficult to have high-quality health care, low-cost, and wide access to medical
services (van et al., 2019). Thus, the implementation of the universal health care system in
the United States has many challenges because many middle and upper-class working
American people had health insurance through their employer. Even many retired citizens of
the United States had insurance through Medicare. Additionally, the citizens of the U.S. who
are at or below the poverty line were eligible for health care insurance through Medicaid,
which is one of the major challenges for the universal health care system.
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References
Advantages and disadvantages of Universal Health Care. Universal Health Care. (2016,
February 14). Retrieved March 10, 2022, from https://universal-
healthcare.org/medical-info/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-universal-health-care/
Amadeo, K. (2021). What is Universal Health Care? The Balance. Retrieved March 10,
2022, from https://www.thebalance.com/universal-health-care-4156211
van der Goes, D. N., Edwardson, N., Rayamajhee, V., Hollis, C., & Hunter, D. (2019). An
iron triangle ROI model for health care. ClinicoEconomics and Outcomes Research:
CEOR, 11, 335.
